Ranking Hugh Jackman's Movies by Favorite

It's Hugh Jackman's birthday today!  

To celebrate, I've collected up all the movies of his that I've seen so far, and ranked them according to how much I love them.  All titles are linked to my reviews, if you're curious about any of them :-)  

Considering he's one of my top favorite actors, I feel like I haven't seen all that many of his movies, but I also have seen several of these more than a dozen times, and a couple of them, I've probably seen at least twenty times, so... there's that...

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

2. X2: X-Men United (2003)

3. The Greatest Showman (2017)

4. X-Men (2000)

5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

6. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

7. Australia (2008)

8. Someone Like You (2001)

9. Logan (2017)

10. Oklahoma! (1999)

Wolverine has been my favorite superhero since before the first X-Men movie came out -- I became a fan of his in the 1990s as a teen, mainly from his recurring presence in the Spider-man Magazine, which my brother subscribed to, but I always read too.

So, it's not at all surprising that he's playing Wolverine in six of my top ten favorites of his movies.  It might actually be kind of surprising that he's not playing Wolverine in all of them.  (But I have only seen him play Wolvie nine times.  Such is life.)

11. Les Miserables (2012)

12. X-Men: First Class (2011)

13. Song Sung Blue (2025)

14. Kate and Leopold (2001)

15. The Wolverine (2013)

16. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

17. Scoop (2006)

18. Van Helsing (2004)

19. Pan (2015)

20. Swordfish (2001)

I think Song Sung Blue might climb higher on this list eventually, after a few more viewings.  But for right now, that's where it fits.

21. The Prestige (2006)

Yes, I know The Prestige is actually way better than the three I put right above it.  I don't care.  I really hate it.  It disturbs me a lot.  I try not to even think about it.

"Newsies" (1992)

I first saw Newsies (1992) when I was a sophomore in college, almost a decade after it was released.  All my roommates had grown up watching it on the Disney Channel on cable, but we didn't have cable, so I'd missed it until then.  But I definitely knew who Christian Bale was, as Little Women (1994) was a staple of sleepovers all through my teen years.

I quickly became a fan of this movie, and made sure to rent it the next summer when I was at home so I could share it with my mom and my little brother, both of whom got a kick out of it too.  I picked it up on DVD at some point, figuring my kids would like it eventually.

None of my kids had any real interest in watching Newsies until two years ago this month, when my youngest had her first dance recital, along with many other classes from her dance studio.  One class did a tap routine to the song "King of New York" from this musical, and when I casually mentioned later that I knew what movie that was from, and we actually owned it, AND they could watch it any time... well, we didn't waste much time pulling out the DVD and watching it.

And both my daughters became completely besotted with this movie.  Not only do they know every word to every song (because, being me, we also have the soundtrack), but they know the name of basically every single minor character.  I'm not just talking the important characters, I mean they know all those random Newsies with a line or two and a funny name like Racetrack, Specs, Mush, Boots, and who knows how many others.  (My girls are at the pool right now, or I'm sure they would be feeding me a lot more of those.)

So.  I have now seen Newsies close onto a dozen times.  I know most of the songs too.  And man, is this movie one worth watching repeatedly!  I do not complain when one of them picks it as the movie of the week.  It's a feel-good movie with excellent songs, some really solid acting, great costumes and sets, and a story you can't help but get caught up in.  Newsies is inspired by the real 1899 newsboys strike in New York City, when young newspaper peddlers across the city banded together to demand better treatment and fair wages.  

In the film, this is prompted by Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) deciding he could make more money if he would raise the price the newsies pay for their papers by a dime every hundred.  He thinks it's barely noticeable, but to kids who are trying to help their families keep food on the table, or who are a step away from living on the streets, its enough to ruin their lives.

The newsies are led by "Cowboy" Jack Kelly (Christian Bale) and his new friend David (David Moscow).  Jack is a parentless teen trying to make his way in the world, always bragging he's going to be joining his family in Santa Fe as soon as they send for him.  

David has a loving family at home, but his father is out of work due to an injury, so David and his little brother Les (Luke Edwards) turn to selling papers to support their family until their father recovers.  David is educated and genteel, using good grammar and etiquette.  He's quiet and reserved, and hesitant to make trouble or attract attention.  He quickly becomes the idea man behind the strike's mouthpiece.

By contrast, Jack is loud, loves attracting attention, and is perfectly happy to stand up in front of a crowd and make speeches.  But he's also lonely.  His time with David's family only reinforces to Jack how much is missing from his life. 

The fledgling strike attracts the attention of Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman), formerly an ace war correspondent who raced up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, but who is now working in New York.  Denton takes the newsies seriously and treats them with respect, and he works hard to make sure that stories about their strike get noticed in his paper.  He's a voice of reason helping to keep the boys grounded and aware of some of the dangers they'll be facing.

Jack and David rally all their newsies who also sell for Pulitzer's paper, and set out to convince all the other newsies across all of New York City to join them too.  

My favorite minor character is Spot Conlan (Gabriel Damon).  He's basically a teenage mob boss who runs Brooklyn.  He carries a cane and wears red suspenders and has the most delicious accent.  He oozes attitude and swagger and charm and confidence, and I could probably write a whole blog post just about him, but I don't have time at the moment, lol.

Newsies from across the city hold a big rally at a music hall run by singer Medda Larkson (Ann-Margret).  Everything goes really well until police sent by Pulitzer break up the rally, brutalize the boys, and arrest many of them, including Jack Kelly.

Pulitzer demands that Jack Kelly either stop leading the strike or go to prison and various other threats.  

Robert Duvall gets pretty cold and scary in this movie, considering it's a Disney musical aimed at kids.  He plays Pulitzer as out of touch with reality, sitting behind his giant desk in his office high above the street, thinking he's basically God on earth.  He can't understand why anyone would disagree with him, and the fact that someone has absolutely unbalances him.  I keep telling my teens we need to watch one of the many movies I have where Robert Duvall plays someone absolutely lovely so they don't think he's always playing mean and awful people, because he's really convincing in this role.

The scenes where Christian Bale gets to go toe-to-toe with Robert Duvall are some of my favorites.  He holds his own with this Hollywood heavyweight, even though he was still in his late teens.  He's not great shakes at dancing, but his singing has a lot of heart.  But it's his acting we're here for, and he does not disappoint.

Bill Pullman is the quiet and solid bedrock of the whole story.  He never condescends to all the kids around him, and he shyly smiles his way into our hearts every time.  He's got such a sweet gravitas in this role, and he really works well in period fare like this.  He exudes old-fashioned wholesomeness, if that makes sense.

I SPOIL the ending in the next couple paragraphs, so if you want to avoid that, please skip down to the blogathon button.

My youngest daughter is micro-fixated on the US Presidents, and has been for over a year now.  I think the presence of future President Teddy Roosevelt (David James Alexander) in this movie may have been part of what got her interested in the Presidents to begin with.  Denton plays on his former acquaintance with Roosevelt to bring the newsies strike to the New York Governor's attention, with spectacular results.

The newsies rally ALL of the child laborers of the city to their cause.  

Jack and David face down Pulitzer and show him how useless his stubborn resistance to their demands for fair treatment are.

And Governor Roosevelt shows up in person to support the strikers, so we know Pulitzer will have to capitulate.  It's a happy ending all around!

This has been my contribution to the Robert Duvall Tribute Blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room this weekend.  Be sure to check out the blogathon for other great posts and reviews!

Is this movie family friendly?  Pretty much, yup.  It's got a couple mild cuss words, some non-bloody violence, and one instance of two guys chasing and manhandling a girl.  There's a kiss between two teens.  Ann-Margret shows some cleavage.  Not sure if there's anything else remotely possible to object to.

My Ten Favorite Marilyn Monroe Movies

Today is Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday!  To celebrate, I'm sharing this list of my ten favorite Marilyn movies.

1. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)  Three women (Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable) pool their resources to rent a swanky apartment so they can date rich men and each marry a millionaire.  The only problem is, they keep falling in love with guys who aren't rich.  It's sweet and funny and quirky -- and the first Marilyn Monroe movie I showed to my kids!  Marilyn's character is the funniest of the trio, especially her running gag about needing to wear thick glasses but thinking they make her look too studious and unglamorous... but when she doesn't wear them, mishaps always ensue.

2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)  Singer-dancer-friends Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy (Jane Russell) take an ocean voyage to Europe just for funsies.  Their steps are dogged by a private detective hired by Lorelei's fiance's father, who is convinced Lorelei is trapping his son in a disastrous marriage.  The girls sing, dance, and dodge would-be suitors.  Marilyn's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" scene really is as iconic as you've been told.

3. Monkey Business (1952) A chemist (Cary Grant) tests an age-reversing elixir on himself and his wife (Ginger Rogers), with hilarious results.  I'm not sure why this movie isn't better known, because it's really funny.  Marilyn only has a small role, as the chemist's boss's secretary, but she's good fun while she's onscreen.

4. Some Like it Hot (1959) Two male jazz musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit and try to hide out in an all-female jazz band by disguising themselves as women.  Absolutely nobody in their right minds would ever mistake Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon for women, which makes the entire thing ridiculous and genuinely funny.  Marilyn Monroe sings with the jazz band, and of course she winds up in a romance with Tony Curtis -- and the funniest part of the whole movie, for me, is Tony Curtis's Cary Grant impression.

5. The Seven Year Itch (1955) When a bored and imaginative man's (Tom Ewell) wife and kids flee New York City for the summer, he begins romanticizing what could happen with the cute girl (Marilyn Monroe) in a nearby apartment.  She sees him only as a friend, too old to be her boyfriend, and nothing serious ever happens between them, no matter how hard he imagines it will.  My husband and I can never mention Rachmaninoff without quoting this movie.

6. Don't Bother to Knock (1952) A lonely pilot (Richard Widmark) pursues a relationship with a sexy babysitter (Marilyn Monroe) who works at the hotel where he lives, only to slowly realize she is a very scary woman.  It's so cool seeing both Widmark and Monroe playing against type in this excellent noir film.

7. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) A showbusiness family endures ups and downs over the years, including one son's romance with a singer (Marilyn Monroe).  This is one of those movies that is mostly just enough plot to string together a lot of really great musical numbers, but I like that kind of movie so long as there is a legitimate reason for the musical numbers to take place -- like in this movie, where they are the family's bread and butter.

8. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) One of the most famous noir films ever, and deservedly so.  A lot of desperate characters work together to pull off a big heist, but justice hunts them down relentlessly.  Marilyn Monroe has a very small part here as the girlfriend-on-the-side of the heist's mastermind (Louis Calhern), and she deftly steals scenes right out from under him.

9. Niagara (1953)  Technicolor film noir masterpiece about two married couples visiting Niagara Falls.  Newlyweds (Jean Peters and Casey Adams/Max Showalter) befriend an older couple (Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe) whose marriage is deteriorating, with disastrous consequences.  I have a love-hate relationship with this movie, but I love it enough to add it to this list, anyway.

10. The Misfits (1961) A divorcee (Marilyn Monroe), an aging cowboy (Clark Gable), a bronco buster (Montgomery Clift), a pilot (Eli Wallach), and a landlady (Thelma Ritter) form a found family of sorts because none of them really quite fit in with anyone else.  This is mostly remembered today as the final finished film for both Gable and Monroe, and it's not exactly a pleasant movie to watch.  But it's a really fascinating bunch of character studies, if you like those.

How many of these have you seen?  Do you have any favorites that aren't on this list?

This post is my contribution to the Marilyn Monroe -- 100th Birthday Blogathon hosted by Kristen at Hoofers and Honeys this weekend.

Love blogathons and blog parties?  Check out my Upcoming Blog Events page every now and then to find links to all the events I plan to host or participate in.  There are lots of great events happening this month in particular!

My Ten Favorite New-to-Me Movies of 2025

It's that time of year again!  Time to sift through the movies I watched over the past year and figure out just which ones I liked best.

I really like that my list this year has movies spanning 97 years.  It's a pretty fun mix of genres too -- not shocking, as I am an eclectic and omnivorous movie watcher.

Anyway, here's my list!

1. Conagher (1991)  A rough-mannered cowboy (Sam Elliot) keeps crossing paths with a homesteader (Katherine Ross) and her adopted children, often helping them out of some difficulty or other, all while insisting he's going to be leaving the area any day now, he's totally not sticking around to look after her and figure out if her missing husband is ever coming back, nope, he's totally disinterested...  

2. The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)  A former military intelligence officer (George C. Scott) is asked to investigate a list of people, but before he can, the man who made the list dies mysteriously.  And then people on the list start to die, too.  What can the connection be?  Why do so many of these people have very peculiar faces?  How many ways can you disguise Kirk Douglas?  SO many questions!  Also, I've never found George C. Scott particularly attractive, but maybe I've just been watching the wrong movies...

3. Desperate Journey (1942)  A WWII British bomber crew (Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Ronald Sinclair) survive a crash landing behind enemy lines and daringly attempt to sneak their way back to Allied territory.  This movie gallops along, flinging our heroes from one tense and worrisome situation to another, but somehow never feels rushed.  Instead, it feels like an exciting series of adventures, each one making us more and more invested in the characters.

4. Glass Onion (2022)  Quirky and laconic detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) attends a house party thrown by a gazillionaire (Edward Norton) on a private island during the Covid-19 shutdowns.  People die.  Blanc figures out how and why.  There are twists on twists on twists, one of which I loved so much, it bumped this much higher on my list than it would have been otherwise.  This is the first movie I've seen that deliberately included the Covid-19 shutdowns in the storyline, complete with the face masks and the social distancing and the special rules for rich people, which was pretty interesting.  Because I don't have Netflix, I only got to see this because our local theater showed it on the big screen for a couple of days.  So happy that they did!

5. Salty O'Rourke (1945)  A gambler (Alan Ladd) needs to pay off a debt fast, so he buys a race horse and hires a jockey and does some dubious paperwork shuffling and falls in love with a school teacher (Gail Russell) and makes a lot of other bad decisions, but it all works out okay because this is a comedy.  I especially loved the sidekick played by William Demarest, of whom I grow and more fond with every movie I see him in.

6. The Invisible Man (1933)  A scientist (Claude Rains) turns himself invisible and slowly goes mad.  This movie makes no secret of the fact that the special effects are the main star of the film, and I am absolutely here for them.

7. The Pirates of Penzance (1983)  A band of jolly pirates (but are they?) led by a Pirate King (Kevin Kline) bids farewell (but do they?) to their apprentice (Rex Smith) when he comes of age (but does he?) and decides he will stop being a pirate and become a law-abiding citizen (but will he?).  Absolute madcap delightfulness from beginning to end, in the best Gilbert-and-Sullivan-but-make-it-1980s-instead style imaginable.

8. Kim (1950)  A British soldier's orphaned son Kim (Dean Stockwell) passes as a native of India to spy for the British, aided and mentored by the mysterious Mahbub Ali (Errol Flynn).  It's based on the Rudyard Kipling classic, but streamlined, and with a lot more for Errol Flynn to do than his character was granted page time for in the book.

9. Libeled Lady (1936)  A rich young thing (Myrna Loy) is libeled by a newspaper, and the editor (Spencer Tracy) responsible for running the libelous story cooks up a doozy of a plot to convince her not to sue the paper.  It involves his fiancée (Jean Harlow) and a slick-talking writer (William Powell), a sham marriage, and all the screwball hijinks the screenwriters could dream up and toss at the characters.  I will probably enjoy this a lot more the second time I watch it, but I only just watched it for the first time a few days ago and haven't had time for a second viewing.  Still, it wound up on this list, which means I did like it more than most screwball comedies...

10. The Gold Rush (1925)  A hapless but plucky prospector (Charlie Chaplin) tries to find gold in Alaska, but mostly finds problems and trouble and a lot of snow.  We saw this in the theater with my brother and his family, and it was the first silent film my niece and nephew had ever seen.  (My own kids had seen a couple before that, but years ago.)  It took them all about ten minutes to get used to the storytelling style, and then they all had a rollicking good time enjoying all of Chaplin's hijinks.  And, as a bonus, we all went to Alaska about a month later, and my nephew was able to relate historical things we saw regarding the actual Alaskan Gold Rush to things he saw in this movie.  I love it when fiction can bring real history to life for people that way!

Well, that's my list!  Have you seen any of these?  Did you make a list of favorite films you watched in 2025 too?  Please share!

I've been collecting my top ten new-to-me movies in posts like this for twelve years now.  You can find all of them at the bottom of this page.

Answers to "What Musical is That Song From?" Game

Here are the answers to Tuesday's game, and everyone's scores.  How'd you do?

1.  "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" are from Wicked

2.  "Lonesome Polecat" and "Spring, Spring, Spring" are from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

3.  "It Might as Well be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing" are from State Fair

4.  "Sisters" and "Count Your Blessings" are from White Christmas

5.  "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "Summertime" are from Porgy and Bess

6.  "Do-Re-Mi" and "Edelweiss" are from The Sound of Music

7.  "This is Me" and "Tightrope" are from The Greatest Showman

8.  "Good Mornin'" and "You Are My Lucky Star" are from Singin' in the Rain

9.  "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "Luck Be a Lady" are from Guys and Dolls

10.  "On the Street Where You Live" and "The Rain in Spain" are from My Fair Lady

11.  "All I Ask of You" and "Music of the Night" are from The Phantom of the Opera

12.  "King of New York" and "Santa Fe" are from Newsies

SCORES

Grace Avender -- 10

Katherine -- 10

Ivy Miranda -- 9

Sam the Library Mouse -- 9

Chloe the Movie Critic -- 8

Lizzie Hexam -- 8

Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews -- 6

Debra She Who Seeks -- 5

Anonymous -- 5

Charlotte (Mother Owl) -- 4

The Hopeful Pen -- 3

Anonymous -- 3

My Answers to the We Love Musicals Tag

Time for me to fill out the We Love Musicals Tag!

1. What are your favorite musicals?

1. Guys and Dolls (1955)
2. An American in Paris (1951)
3. White Christmas (1954)
4. The Greatest Showman (2017)
5. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

For the rest of my top ten, read this post :-)

2. What do you like about musicals? 

I like how a good musical allows characters to express their thoughts and emotions through song and dance instead of only words.  A good musical uses music the way Shakespeare used soliloquies.

Bonus points if they're really fun and leave me smiling, and if they have wonderful songs I want to learn all the words to!

3. What's the first musical you can remember seeing? 

The Sound of Music (1965) -- I have a vague memory of half-watching it when I was maybe four or five years old.  We didn't own a TV set until I was 4, so it can't have been earlier than that.

4. Have you ever seen a live musical onstage? 

Yes!  I saw Hayley Mills in a touring production of The King and I in 1997.  I also saw a production of The Mikado as a teen.  And I saw a couple of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals back when I was in college -- I think Princess Ida and The Gondoliers? 

5. Have you ever performed in a musical? 

Yes!  During college, I was in the chorus of three Gilbert and Sullivan musicals: The Sorcerer, The H. M. S. Pinafore, and The Yeomen of the Guard.  I had several friends who were in them too, which made rehearsals and sitting around in the Green Room lots of fun.  Not to mention, learning how to do stage makeup has come in really handy now that my daughter does ballet and needs stage makeup for her performances.

Me with two friends backstage in our Yeomen of the Guard costumes.

6. Do you periodically dance about and burst into song in real life? 

I do.  Sometimes in public and fairly often at home.

7. What's the newest movie musical you've seen? 

Wicked (2024), which I took my daughters to see in the theater in December.  I liked it all right.

8. What's the oldest movie musical you've seen? 

The oldest one I know for sure I've seen all of is The Wizard of Oz (1939).  I've seen parts of some Shirley Temple movies too, but I'm not sure which ones I've seen all of -- that would have been when I was a kid, and I just don't remember now.  So I'll say The Wizard of Oz because it's so nicely symmetrical that the newest musical I've seen is a sort of retelling of the oldest one I've seen!  Neither of which are movies I actually love, but that's okay.

9. What's the last musical you watched? 

I watched The Music Man (1962) last week with my kids.  It was their first time watching it, and we laughed and laughed!  Good times.  Being from Iowa myself, I've always had a particular soft spot for it.

10. What musical do you hope to watch for the first time soon?

Hmm.  Probably either Pirates of Penzance (1983) or Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (2018).  They're both on my TBW shelves, so it will just be a matter of which I'm in the mood for first.

If you want a clean version of this tag, you can find it in the blog party kick-off post.

My Ten Favorite Musicals -- 2025 Update

I shared my original list of ten favorite musicals a whole decade ago!  I've definitely got some slightly different favorites now, though many of the same dear favorites are still tops.  Here is my current list!  As usual, all titles are linked to my reviews if I have reviewed a particular movie.

(Random note, but I find it amusing how this graphic color-coordinated itself.  I didn't try to arrange the movies so they would have white posters all in a block and colorful ones in another block!  So funny.)

1. Guys and Dolls (1955)

Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) bets Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can't get social reformer Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons) to go on a date with him. This movie made me fall in love with the stories and writing style of Damon Runyon, which the musical is based on. Personally (and that means in person), I adore the odd patter the characters speak. 

2. An American in Paris (1951)

An ex-GI painter (Gene Kelly) falls in love with a girl (Leslie Caron), not knowing she's engaged to his night club singer friend (Georges Guetary). The whole movie is an excuse to sing and dance to Gershwin tunes, which is one of the best reasons for making a musical I've ever heard. 

3. White Christmas (1954) 

A team of showbiz stars (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) try to rescue a retired general (Dean Jagger) from bankruptcy by staging a show at his ski lodge. Why yes, this heads up my list of favorite Christmas movies too. 

4. The Greatest Showman (2017) 

P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) gathers up the misfits of the world and gives them jobs, friendship, and a purpose.  And that includes his protégé Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron), who falls in love with a trapeze artist (Zendaya).  The message of everyone deserving friendship and love and a place to belong, no matter what they look like, really resonates with me.

5. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

A talented young singer (Emmy Rossum) is mentored and stalked and abducted and generally haunted by a disfigured man (Gerard Butler) who lives under the Paris Opera House.  Thank goodness for her childhood friend Raoul (Patrick Wilson), who stands by her and helps her however he can, and eventually falls in love with her as well.  This production is overwhelmingly lavish and opulent and everything it ought to be.  I'm particularly taken with Patrick Wilson's portrayal of Raoul as a brave and manly young fellow who protects and defends and is generally awesome.  And his voice is like butterscotch.  I wish Wilson made more musicals.

6. State Fair (1945) 

A family spends a week at the Iowa state fair, where the daughter (Jeanne Crain) falls in love with a newspaper man (Dana Andrews), the son falls in love with an entertainer, and the parents take home prizes for their mincemeat and hog. There's a 1960s remake that stars Bobby Darin in the Dana Andrews role, but aside from dearest Bobby, that version lacks the charm of this one. 

7.  Hello, Dolly! (1969)

A fairy-godmother-like matchmaker (Barbra Streisand) finds love matches for two store clerks (Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin), two milliners (Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker), an irascible businessman (Walter Matthau) and his niece (Joyce Ames)... and herself.  I have a penchant for fairy godmothers, and Dolly Levi has been an inspiration to me since I was in single digits. 

8.  West Side Story (1961) 

A modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1960s NYC, with rival street gangs taking the place of rival families. So heartbreaking and beautiful, with some of the coolest dancing ever -- I much prefer it to Romeo and Juliet. The soundtrack was one of the first CDs I ever bought, and I know all the words to every song. 

9.  Brigadoon (1954) 

Two hunters (Gene Kelly and Van Johnson) stumble on an enchanted Scottish village that only exists one day out of every hundred years, whereupon one of them falls in love with a local girl (Cyd Charisse).  I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. 

10. Oklahoma! (1999) 

A cowboy (Hugh Jackman) tries to win the heart of a girl who claims she hates him. Yes, you read that correctly: Hugh Jackman. This is the London stage version, not the famous Hollywood one, and I prefer it because, well, Hugh Jackman!

This post is one of my contributions to We Love Musicals Week.  I hope you've been enjoying the fun so far!

What Musical is That Song From? Game

Ready to play a game?  Listed below are two songs each from twelve famous musicals.  All you have to do is tell me which musical goes with each pair! 

I will put comments on moderation this morning so people can't be tempted to cheat off each other.  I'll share the answers and scores at the end of We Love Musicals Week.

Have fun!

1.  "Defying Gravity" and "Popular"

2.  "Lonesome Polecat" and "Spring, Spring, Spring"

3.  "It Might as Well be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing"

4.  "Sisters" and "Count Your Blessings"

5.  "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "Summertime"

6.  "Do-Re-Mi" and "Edelweiss"

7.  "This is Me" and "Tightrope"

8.  "Good Mornin'" and "You Are My Lucky Star"

9.  "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "Luck Be a Lady"

10.  "On the Street Where You Live" and "The Rain in Spain"

11.  "All I Ask of You" and "Music of the Night"

12.  "King of New York" and "Santa Fe"

We Love Musicals Week -- Kick-off and Tag

Welcome to We Love Musicals Week!  Together, we can spend five whole days celebrating everything we love about musicals, whether they're on film or on the stage.

Remember to use one of the party buttons in your own posts, and to link back here so your blog readers can visit the party too.  Also, please remember to keep your posts family friendly and celebratory.  If you don't like musicals, that's okay -- you are free to ignore our partying.  Just, please, don't bring around a cloud to rain on our parade :-)

Whenever you create a post for this week's party, add a link to it using this widget:

Make sure you check out posts from other participants!  And don't forget to check out (and enter) my giveaway.

Also, here's the official party tag, which you can fill out on your own blog!  It's a handy way to participate even if you don't have time or ideas for a different sort of post.

The We Love Musicals Tag

1.  What are your favorite musicals?  (Tell us a top 3 to 5, that sort of thing.)

2.  What do you like about musicals?

3.  What's the first musical you can remember seeing?

4.  Have you ever seen a live musical onstage?

5.  Have you ever performed in a musical?

6.  Do you periodically dance about and burst into song in real life?

7.  What's the newest movie musical you've seen?

8.  What's the oldest movie musical you've seen?

9.  What's the last musical you watched?

10.  What musical do you hope to watch for the first time soon?

Announcing We Love Musicals Week

Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for.

I'm hosting a blog party again next month, its spotlight is on musicals, and YOU are invited to participate!

Much like last year's We Love Sibling Stories Week, this party will be a celebration with many parts.  There's the blogathon-ish aspect, where you get to contribute your own posts about musicals.  There's the giveaway aspect, where I give away some fun musical-related goodies.  There's the tag aspect, where I provide a tag of ten or so questions you can answer, all about musicals.  And there's the game aspect, where I make up a blog game or two to go with this year's theme.

If you love musicals, I hope you'll join me in celebrating them for a whole week, from February 10 to 14.  There's no limit of how many people can blog about a specific topic, but I do like to get an idea for how many people will participate.  So please leave a comment here once you have an idea of what you'd like to contribute.

There's also no limit on how many posts you can contribute!  And I encourage you to think outside the box.  Movie or show reviews are great, but things like lists of favorite songs, favorite composers, specific character types you love, favorite musicals from a specific era -- those would all be awesome contributions too!  This is a party, not a blogathon, so feel free to get creative if you want to.  The main rule is just that all posts should be family friendly (even if the musical you are talking about has "mature" themes or aspects).

Please use any of these buttons on your own blogs to spread the word about this event.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with to share!

The Roster

+ Hamlette's Soliloquy -- tag, game, and giveaway (and maybe something else, too)

+ Meanwhile, in Rivendell... -- current favorite musicals

+ Whimsically Classic -- something

+ Realweegiemidget Reviews -- favorite musical moments

+ Movies Meet Their Match -- review of Six

+ Taking Up Room -- review of Thousands Cheer (1943)

+ The Maidens of Green Gables -- something

+ I'm Charles Baker Harris (and I Can Read) -- review of A Complete Unknown (2024)

+ Inkling Corner -- The Phantom of the Opera

+ Revealed in Time -- The Phantom of the Opera

+ 18 Cinema Lane -- review of Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

+ Starlight and Saucepans -- Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and what makes a good movie musical

+ The Hopeful Pen -- favorite songs from musicals

+ YOU!

The Christmas Movies Tag

I love Christmas.  I love movies.  Today, I'm inviting you to join me in combining those two delightful parts of life so we can talk about our favorite Christmas movies! 

The Rules:

• Fill out the prompts (expound as much or as little as you like)
• Tag some friends (however many or few you feel like)
• Have fun (this is mandatory)

The Tag:

1.  A favorite funny Christmas movie:  We're No Angels (1955)

It's only one of the absolute funniest movies I've ever seen, AND it's a Christmas movie!  Who can resist the hilarious tale of three escaped convicts (Aldo Ray, Humphrey Bogart, and Peter Ustinov) who set out to rob a storekeeper (Leo G. Carroll) so they can get off Devil's Island and instead end up helping him and his family escape the clutches of a merciless relative (Basil Rathbone).  Comedy genius AND Christmastime gold all at once!  (And if you think Humphrey Bogart isn't funny, boy, do you ever have another think coming.)

2.  A favorite poignant Christmas movie:  It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is the perfect blend of darkness and hope.  It's remarkably gritty, with enough desperation and anger simmering in it to fuel several noir films, and yet it's also imbued with so much hope and love.  

3.  A favorite romantic Christmas movie: The Holiday (2006) grows more loveable every time I watch it.  Yes, there's a bit of "adult content," but most of it is alluded to, not shown on-screen.  But the themes of standing up for yourself, learning who to trust and how to trust them, and caring for others even when you've only just met -- all so good!  And "W-i-d-o-w-e-d" never fails to make me tear up.  If you know, you know.

4.  A favorite feel-good Christmas movie:  White Christmas (1954)

Have I seen White Christmas a few dozen times?  Of course!  Will I be watching it next weekend when it's on the big screen at our local theater?  Absolutely!  Man, this movie has everything I love in a Christmas movie -- soldiers, war zones, trains, horseshoes, romance, sparkly dresses, earworm songs that make me happy every time I think of them, miraculous snowfalls, and the occasional small, internal muscular hemorrhage.  Magic!

5.  A favorite movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol:  For me, it's a tie between A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and A Christmas Carol (1999) starring Patrick Stewart.  They both bring me to tears, make me laugh, and make me want to clap.  Sometimes I do clap. 

6.  A Christmas movie you watch any time of year:  While You Were Sleeping (1995)

I mean, it's technically a Christmas movie.  You have a Christmas gathering and a Christmas tree and a gift exchange and snow and mistletoe.  But I watch it any time of year because the fact that it's Christmas is only a sort of backdrop.  And also because it was released in April, and I saw it in late spring at the second-run theater with the girls who were becoming my best friends, and... it's so Christmassy, but I almost never watch it at Christmas time ::shrugs::

7.  A Christmas movie that surprised you:  Holiday Affair (1949)

The first time I watched Holiday Affair, the story and characters kept taking these random left turns that would seem to come out of nowhere, but yet made absolute and total sense.  I just could not ever see them coming, and that entranced me.  Which is a bit odd, because usually when movies start zigging when I am quite sure they will zag, I start to get frustrated.  But every single surprising turn of events made the story So Much Better, and I was spellbound.  I now tend to watch this during the week before Christmas after everyone else is in bed, while sitting on the floor in the living room and wrapping gifts.  It's a private, cozy little pleasure I look forward to and savor.

8.  A favorite "but is it really a Christmas movie?" movie:  The Three Godfathers (1948) is kind of hard to describe.  It's a John Wayne Christmas movie.  You've got three desperadoes and an orphaned baby and a desert and people quoting the Bible, and Ward Bond playing a guy named Perley Sweet... and it's generally considered a Christmas movie, but I am not sure I have ever watched it at Christmastime.  

9.  The oldest Christmas movie you've seen:  The Thin Man (1934), which is one of the most delightful murder mysteries ever filmed.  I think we will introduce it to our kids this Christmas season.  Nick and Nora Charles are #MarriedCoupleGoals, and I find this movie funnier every time I watch it, which is pretty rare.

10.  The newest Christmas movie you've seen:  A Christmas Love Story (2019), which was also the first Hallmark Christmas movie I had ever seen!  My mom is living with us part of the time now, and we don't have the Hallmark Channel.  She was missing getting to watch lots of Hallmark Christmas movies, so I hunted up a few on DVD that sounded like I would also enjoy them, and which were made before Hallmark kowtowed to the pressure to push unbiblical agendas on their audience.  We watched this last week, and it was cute and fun.  I'm pretty sure my youngest is going to want to see it because it stars Kristin Chenoweth, and my little ballerina was just in a ballet version of Wicked, which led to her being a bit obsessed with all things Wicked at the moment.  And you know what?  This movie would be totally fine for her watch.  Yay!

I Tag:

18 Cinema Lane

I'm Charles Baker Harris (and I Can Read)

Ink Calamities

The Maidens of Green Gables

Meanwhile, in Rivendell...

Movies Meet Their Match

Musings of an Introvert

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies

Sidewalk Crossings

Silver Scenes

Taking Up Room

YOU, if I didn't tag you and you want to play!  

Here's a clean copy of the questions, if you want them:

1.  A favorite funny Christmas movie:

2.  A favorite poignant Christmas movie:

3.  A favorite romantic Christmas movie: 

4.  A favorite feel-good Christmas movie:

5.  A favorite movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol:

6.  A Christmas movie you watch any time of year:

7.  A Christmas movie that surprised you:

8.  A favorite "but is it really a Christmas movie?" movie:

9.  The oldest Christmas movie you've seen:

10.  The newest Christmas movie you've seen:

"Guys and Dolls" (1955)

Guys and Dolls (1955) is my favorite movie musical.  I love so much about it -- the songs, the cast, the costumes, the scenery, and the storyline!  But above all, I love the dialog.  This musical is based on the short stories of Damon Runyon, particularly his 1933 story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown."  Runyon wrote a distinctive style of dialog that became known as "Runyonese" that is filled with slang, humorously uses long and flowery words at random, and diligently avoids contractions.  The dialog for the film embraces Runyonese, with spectacularly funny results.

When I saw this movie for the first time, I was fifteen and had no idea what it was about, what Runyonese was like, nothing.  My friend Jesse and I had spent the afternoon painting faces at a Halloween festival, and we stopped to rent a movie on the way back to my place.  We both loved old classic movies, and we thought the colorful VHS cover at the video store looked really fun, so we rented it on a complete whim.

We spent the next two and a half hours laughing and laughing and laughing. We both fell in love with all the songs and the crazy dialog and the costumes -- in fact, I watched the movie all over again the next day with my mom and brother before returning it to the video store.  And Jesse and I would fangirl over it with great glee for months afterward, whenever we happened to get together.

A few years later, I found a collection of Damon Runyon's stories and read them, and was endlessly delighted to discover that Runyonese is just as funny when you read it as when you hear it.

Guys and Dolls revolves around two romantic pairings: Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) and Miss Adelaide (Vivian Blaine), and Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) and Sergeant Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons).  Nathan and Adelaide have been engaged for fourteen years, but Sky and Sarah have only just met.  

Nathan Detroit needs a thousand dollars to rent a place to hold his famous floating crap game, and he bets Sky Masterson a thousand dollars that Sky cannot take any random woman on a date.  Sky takes the bet, Nathan names Sister Sarah as the woman he should take out, and the bulk of the film is about Sky's attempts to convince Sarah he is a repentant sinner who wants her street mission to save his soul, when really he just wants her to fly to Havana with him so he can win the bet.  Except that, he starts to fall in love with her for real, which complicates everything.

Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons were not trained singers, but they recorded their own songs for this film anyway.  Brando later said that they cobbled his songs together from the multitude of takes they recorded, but Simmons sang well enough she did not need such extreme editing.  Neither of them hold a candle to Sinatra, but they do not need to!  The unpolished, more realistic sound of their songs adds to their charm.  Not only are neither Sky nor Sarah great at singing, neither one has ever been great at this whole falling-in-love thing.  But they do so anyway.  It totally works.

I have read that Sinatra very much wanted to play Sky Masterson and was so angry that the studio cast Marlon Brando instead, who was not really a singer or a dancer (but WAS hot box office right then), that he refused to speak to Brando most of the time.  They spent the bulk of the filming communicating through others.  Their characters definitely come across as rivals who like to one-up each other, so the off-screen antagonism does not hurt the film.

One of my favorite parts of the whole movie is the crap game staged as a ballet set in the sewers.  Which is not a sentence you will run into very often, am I right?  But it works gorgeously, and it involves my favorite song from the film ("Luck be a Lady").  I would link to clips of it here, but it is kind of the climax for the plot, and I do not want to ruin it for anyone here who has decided they want to see the movie for the first time.

I have heard a lot of people saying that Marlon Brando is miscast in this film, and I think that is hogwash.  His Sky Masterson is unfairly attractive, all elegant masculinity and effortless cool.  There is no reason to wonder why Sarah Brown is drawn to him despite her best intentions not to be.  I have always been upset that Brando has never played any other character quite as wonderful, though, admittedly, I have only seen ten of his other films, so perhaps I will stumble on one sometime that I also love him in -- his turn as Mark Antony in the 1953 Julius Caesar is the closest I have found so far.

Random historical tidbit: when Damon Runyon was an up-and-coming New York City reporter, he was mentored by famed western lawman-and-gambler-turned-sportswriter Bat Masterson.  It is widely acknowledged that Runyon named his coolest character, a gambler from the west called Sky Masterson, after his mentor.

Is this movie family friendly?  Basically, yes.  Miss Adelaide is a singer and dancer at a nightclub, and her songs are a little risque both in the lyrics and her costumes (see above).  Not racy enough to stop me from watching this movie recently with my kids, who are currently 12, 14, and 16, but some families may find they wish to fast-forward or skip those scenes (you can skip them without missing any part of the plot).  There are some kisses and some very mild innuendos in the dialog elsewhere.  By today's standards, it is super tame, but for the '50s it was probably almost a little edgy.

You can watch this movie on DVD and Blu-Ray, or stream it on Amazon Prime, YouTube, FreeVee, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and probably other places too -- it is not hard to find.

This has been my contribution to the Seventh Broadway Bound Blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room this weekend!  Guys and Dolls was originally a Broadway musical -- according to Wikipedia, it opened on Broadway in 1950, ran for 1200 performances, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical that year!